


Time Machine

by PreciousCosmos



Series: on the correlation between power and absolutes [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Gen, Ninja Never Quit Zine, One-sided Sibling Rivalry, Unreliable Narrator (possibly), of sorts, vague allusions to a time paradox, villain origin story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28356405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PreciousCosmos/pseuds/PreciousCosmos
Summary: Zane: a nindroid, the son of Doctor Julien, student of Master Wu, built to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and renowned as an impossible marvel of both the worlds of elemental mastery and humanity at large.He is only the first.
Series: on the correlation between power and absolutes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110137
Kudos: 6





	Time Machine

**Author's Note:**

> "Open up a window // All the air, oh, the air is falling out  
> Eyes vacuum up light // Sound gets trapped by the mouth  
> We'll deal with the remainder // When the dents, the dents get hammered out  
>  _Then we'll travel through time..._ "  
>   
> ~ Modest Mouse, "[The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box](https://genius.com/Modest-mouse-the-ground-walks-with-time-in-a-box-lyrics)"  
>   
> Here's to 10 years of endless creative possibility. Thank you, Ninjago!

Zane reactivates at five o'clock in the morning. He arranges himself, tidies up, and begins his patrol as he has done every day.

It's always the same. Time's ground wears on with two feet marching and two fists swinging, _left, right, left, right, one, zero, one, zero, one._ And two hands of time, in rotation ticking, beat a heart-pulse only he hears. The pulse has always been wrong, like a skipping step just off the cliff's edge or that fist landing only a glance.

Curious. He has never swung his fists.

 _"Just a bad dream, Zane. Nothing to worry about,"_ his father used to mumble on mornings like this, when the man would wake and seem off himself.

Zane is not meant to dream, either.

But that's what it was, right? The hands never reverse, so the images in his memory banks must be imaginary.

No matter then. They're wonderful images to think about, and they pass the time quickly; the adventure and colors and brotherhood! Oh, he's never had such fun. By all lines of logic, it wasn't a bad dream at all.

Still, each step he takes weighs heavier than the last. He should be experiencing fantastical joy, and yet climbing the staircase feels no different than when he left the basement and couldn't find his father anywhere. His knees scrape the legs beneath them, and his ankles wobble, one leg threatening to give out. Maybe he'll end the patrol early today.

At last, he reaches the main room in the lighthouse, scanning the area for Tai-D. A bit of maintenance would be a better use of this day, but he can't find the little bot. Not under the table, in the closet, down the corridor, or anywhere else. Maybe outside? He goes to one of the windows and leans out, surveying the sharp rocks below.

"It was real, you know," a nearby voice intones. It's attached to a stranger in black somehow sitting at the table, his arms crossed and face hidden by a red visor.

Zane yelps and dives for cover behind his father's drawing board, bashing his knee too hard on the stone. Its cap pops off with a _clink!_

The traitorous thing ends up skittering across the floor, stopping at the stranger's foot. Bending down to pick it up, he hums, "That won't do," then calls, "I can fix this for you if you come out."

Intrigued in spite of himself, Zane peeks and determines that the stranger doesn't seem to mean him harm. "It was...real?" he asks, daring to scoot closer.

His visitor directs him to sit down beside him as he crouches on the floor. "Yes. You detected it. Time's reversal. Something happened that was undone, but I know that didn't escape your clever notice." He observes Zane's knee the entire while that he rambles. "It's what you were built for, after all." He lifts a finger, ticking it side to side as he says, "Tracking the seconds as each one passes."

Zane tilts his head, curious, and states, "I possess an internal chronometer."

Gesturing wide, the mystery man extends his rambling, saying, "You have more than that. So much more. Listen closely. You're gonna play the villain, and they'll hate you for it, but they don't see the world the way we do because we see _everything._ We _know_ everything. They have _no idea_ what we can do for them. What we're _going_ to do for them. Especially Zane. He's gonna hate you the most, but you can't forget that he's simply envious of your power."

"But..." That does not compute. Zane? "I am Zane."

The mystery man laughs. "How innocent. I hate to break it to you, but you're not. You're the furthest thing from your _perfect_ , so beloved brother."

Was he not just giving generous praise? None of this computes at all.

"Oh, trust me. You'll understand soon enough," the man says as if he can read thoughts. "All you have to do is take control. Like so." He hovers his hand above Zane's leg, twirls his fingers, and yellow light glows from them. Then, a miracle happens.

The rust on Zane's kneecap doesn't so much fall away but recede within itself, and the old gray his first memory depicts glimmers back at him.

One hand ticks a perfect synchronization, echoing.

"Who are you?"

"I am simply another ship passing you in the night. And look at that! The next one's right on time."

Zane turns. Destiny sails the air in creaks overhead, drawing closer, as a flash of multicolor light illuminates the window frame. He looks back to find confirmation that he isn't seeing a fictional image, but the mystery man has vanished.

There's no time to worry about that. His strong knee carries him fast down the staircase and to the beach where the flying ship weighs anchor. Two familiar people drop from the chain to meet him.

"Jay! Nya!" he whoops, throwing his arms around their necks.

"Wait, you remember us?" the girl asks.

"Of course!"

"But how? We're not even sure why we remember and the others don't."

He doesn't really care what she's talking about. He's just happy - in two ways. One follows perfect logic. But the other, with the mystery man's warning so fresh, leaves him feeling relief that it's only two who came for him.

* * *

Jay and Nya are leaving, and they want to take him with them. If he doesn't ask now, he might not get another chance. "Do not..." he starts, faltering. If he makes this request, won't he be a coward? But if he changes nothing, then he can keep those good memories and be content.

"What's wrong, Echo?" Nya prompts.

"Please." Yes, it's decided. "Do not tell Zane."

"Why not?"

"S-scared," he admits.

"There's nothing you need to be afraid of, Echo. He's gonna love you. You know that, right?"

"I- I..." Why is it so hard to put the reason into words?

Ten, fully aligned ticks pass while she searches his eyes. At length, she looks away like she can't find what she's looking for in him, but it's within herself instead. She turns to Jay making some kind of face at her, takes his hand, and then sighs, saying, "Okay, it'll be our secret. Until we're all ready to tell them."

* * *

He receives less than a handful of visits from them over the course of the next few months until finally, one late evening, they explain to him that it's too difficult keeping the secret like this. That he would be safer if he were closer to them. Truthfully, maybe he's a little tired of the lighthouse and its hollow reverberations anyway.

The old couple that he — along with Tai-D — goes to live with have temperaments that remind him of his father, and Jay says he can trust them, that they'll take good care of him. He keeps saying that like Zane needs to be convinced. He trusts Jay, and soon, he trusts them just as much. Loves them. He loves helping them.

"Ooh, you're quite the speedy one, Mr. Echo," the kind mother praises from her place in the front seat of her shared vehicle.

The scrapyard required a great amount of organization today, and Zane found his progress to be too slow. So he went faster. By nightfall now, everything has its place. he grins at her, shaking the dirt from his apron, a plume of smoke and green light bursting from it.

"An' here we thought Jay was the fastest of the bunch," the gentle father agrees, wrench in hand, as he pushes up away from the engine he's been working on all day. Returning to it, he tightens some remaining bolts. "Okay, Edna, give it a whirl."

The mother complies, but the vehicle makes no roaring sound like Zane knows it's supposed to.

"Darn it," the father exclaims, scratching his head with the wrench. "I just don't think she'll ever start again, hun."

Frowning, Zane hangs up his apron and shuffles over to the vehicle. Patting the frame, he asks, "Why won't she?"

"Ah, honey, that's just how things go," the mother answers. "You can give them all the love in the world, but cars get old, and they break down."

"We got a lot of good years out of her, though."

The two reminisce about the past, but Zane remains quiet, thinking hard. He concludes that if aging is the problem, then logically, a reversal of the process must be the solution.

"'Like so,'" he mumbles, yellow light blooming under his fingertips.

* * *

Two nights later, he lies curled under the shiny, pristine car and listens to its soft purr instead of the wild conversation happening less than ten feet away from him. Tai-D beeps small comforts in his arms, but soon its programming calls it to serve tea to the guests.

Nya and Jay have come for a visit. He had been so excited to meet them again, but they brought the old man with the longest beard he's ever seen as well as a different pair of strangers. The expressions on their faces scared him, so he hid before they saw him. It seems like that pointless.

"We already know what happens when two share this power. We have _no_ idea the damage a single person possessing it can cause," the main almost shouts, drawing Zane's unwilling attention. "It's too powerful!"

"I understand your misgivings," the old one responds, "but I believe that if destiny chose him, it must be for a reason. If he is anything like his brother, he has a good heart."

"Why take that chance, Wu?" the woman says. "We still have an ingot of chronosteel. If we use it now, before he manifests his true potential, maybe it will be enough." Her voice could be pleasant were it not so rushed and full of worry.

"But that's not fair to him. He helped us," Nya bursts.

Jay chimes in with, "Yeah, I couldn't have done anything without him back then."

It calms Zane to hear his friends defend him. He just wishes he knew what they're defending him from.

"Sweetheart, you told me yourself that that timeline doesn't exist anymore. How do you know he'll act with the same heroism?"

"Why are _you_ so sure he's evil?" Nya retorts.

"I didn't say he was, but I have to think about what might be best."

"Maybe _nobody_ having powers would be _what's best_ , but you can't do that, so you can't do it to him, Dad!"

A heavy silence fills the space until the old one continues, "Every elemental master has the potential to use their power for evil, but history proves that most use it for good. With the proper training, he could—"

The vehicle's engine suddenly pops right in Zane's ear, followed by the muffler falling off, its entire state returning to the aged, dead shell from before, only worse. The tires follow, almost dropped an axle on top of him, but he rolls to safety. And right into everyone's view. Wide-eyed, they stare at each other.

"Aw, there she goes," Ed laments, breaking the long moment.

"Come here, Echo," Nya gently commands. "Eavesdropping is rude, especially when you should be part of this."

The couple who hate him appear nervous, their lips tight and eyes looking anywhere but at him.

He isn't afraid. He's a hero. Still, he stammers, "I- I— Did I do— I don't know what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything," she assures.

"It was gonna wear off anyway," Jay adds.

Zane's about to ask what he means, but the bearded man, Wu, approaches him.

"Hello. We have not properly met."

"H-hello. I am Zane. I am built—"

"To protect those who cannot protect themselves," Wu finishes for him with a strange, fond smile. He reaches out to Zane and places a warm hand on his shoulder. "You have been given a gift as well as a great responsibility. You must not abuse it or treat it carelessly. Can you understand that?"

"Yes," he answers on impulse. He can at least endeavor to try.

* * *

Nya and Jay tell him they can't keep the secret anymore after that, so in return, they give him a third home and a second mind. The latter he's especially grateful for. It's easier to process, now.

He finds reading to be the most enjoyable pastime, and his master's library is quite extensive. His brother often expounds on the virtue of understanding science and history, and yes, _yes_ , he does study what he's expected to. But it's philosophy and the psychology of humans that hold the stronger grasp. A particular line of reasoning keeps him up all night.

Stones know nothing of time or space, of sun or water, and hold no memory in themselves. Around them grow the plants who love the energy they drink and care nothing for the space they dwell in. Animals know love, too, for their families, but they don't remember ages past or feel the turning of the world.

But humans are aware of it all and yet nothing at the same time, trapped. Stuck to walk earth's ground on a single line until the very end. Time-bound. He doesn't want to be like that anymore.

So it doesn't matter that he must steal from Ninjago's history to unlock his true potential. It doesn't matter that the mystery man was right. It doesn't even matter if he dies. None of it can bind him.

 _Zane_ may use his cold, unforgiving titanium and crystallized potential itself to protect those who cannot protect themselves, but his echo is made of doom-wrought iron with time's great spinning mechanism for a heart.

He knows who he is. He's a _cut_ above the rest.

* * *

Just a few days after Echo begins his training, Zane receives a request to come down to the police station.

"Thank you for coming," the commissioner says, meeting him at the front.

"Of course. Your call seemed urgent."

"It's a matter of interest, sure." Along the way to his office, the commissioner explains, "A couple of my guys were running an investigation out at the landfill — _ahem_ , long story — when they happened to find it. We weren't sure what to make of it, but I figure it wouldn't be hard for the princess to tap into one of the nindroid army's old evildoing ways."

Disturbed, Zane asks, "What leads you to believe that?"

"You'll see," the man sighs, opening his door and allowing Zane to enter first.

What is clearly a match to the black biker helmet Mr. E never removed sits on the desk. Zane closes the distance to it. Unusually hesitant, he grasps it, refraining from lifting it out of view. A second later, he exhales, resigning himself to what he will finally learn and the convoluted misery that comes after.

**Author's Note:**

> so another big thanks goes out to SpeedytheCat and everyone else who made this zine possible! it's my first opportunity to be part of something like this, so it feels doubly momentous. though i feel a bit weird that my piece ended up being much more AU than what most people did, i guess being that it's an important anniversary, the main idea has to do with what ninjago's meant to us as a fandom? and playing in its sandbox of potential has been the defining source of value to me since i happened to see the movie 2 years ago. it's the story that got me into writing with purpose; i can never thank tommy and the rest enough for that.
> 
> so anyway, i have plans! plans to expand on this idea in the future, yes, so let's see if i write anything this year ;^;
> 
> and head over to [the nnq blog](https://ninjaneverquit-zine.tumblr.com/post/640261312611483648/after-roughly-a-year-in-production-featuring-a) to see the full zine, it's incredible!


End file.
